The Perfect Gift
by El Trombonisto
Summary: As Ash continues his journey to become a Pokemon master, he realizes that there is much more to life than that. He, and his girlfriend, also known as Latias, journey to her hometown to celebrate one of the best Christmas's they will ever have.


Ash Ketchum's Point of View

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

-Lao Tzu

She glows with a light that is so beautiful; I can't put it into words. Her smile is a brilliant and dazzling white as bright as the sun itself. She is so soft that I could hug her forever and not let go, or want to let go, for that matter. She has amber eyes that make you feel like you are in quicksand, trapped in those seas of light brown and never wanting to get out.

She is also my girlfriend, Latias. The red and white Legendary Pokémon that I instantly fell in love with when I met her long ago in her hometown of Altomare.

This December, I decided that Latias and I would take a small detour from our journey. She had joined me in my quest to become a Pokémon master when I left her hometown. This Christmas, I had planned something extremely special, and since Christmas was Latias' favorite holiday, what better a time to execute my plan.

She loved all of the vibrant Christmas lights decorating the rooftops, the children staring through the windows of toy stores, all of the sweet smells of bakeries making fresh cinnamon roles, young couples going on dates, and the general feeling of happiness and holiday cheer. Since one of her abilities allowed her to sense the emotions of others, Christmas put her in a very jubilant mood when it came about.

I sent my Pokémon to Professor Oak to be cared for by him and my mom back in Pallet Town, and Latias and I borrowed a boat from my friend Mr. Briney. We soon set sail on the open sea on a new journey.

The gentle waves caressed the boat, and it seemed like the Legendary Kyogre knew what I was doing, and was going out of his way to make sure all went perfectly. The salty sea air and the thin mist that came from the waves coupled with the many bird Pokémon flying around us made the cruise almost seem picturesque!

"Ok Latias, we're almost there! Only a few more minutes and we should arrive!" I called out.

Latias, in her Pokémon form, was playing with all of the Pokémon around us, and when she heard me, she flew down to the boat and reverted to her human form, the carbon copy of her best friend Bianca.

After around 10 minutes of sailing, we finally made land in Altomare. The beautiful city with it's crystal clear waterways, beautiful architecture, and many other intriguing attributes seemed so peaceful, the perfect setting for my plan.

Latias looked completely ecstatic. She was so anxious to get off the boat, I didn't even need to be a psychic to tell that she couldn't wait to get off the boat and get back to her hometown.

At first, we thought about visiting Bianca or Lorenzo, but we figured that they would probably be at work right now, so instead, we decided on going to eat at a sidewalk café, courtesy of my stomach rumbling.

After we finished eating a wonderful lunch of spaghetti and meatballs, we began our walk through the city again. We didn't care where we were going, we just wanted to walk around.

Eventually, Latias got bored with that, and decided to play one of her games with me again.

She took off running ahead of me, and I let her get a head-start before I started chasing her.

'Just like old times', I thought to myself, reminiscing on past experience. Knowing that I probably wouldn't catch up with her, I just decided to play along for the time being, partly curious as to where she was going, though I had hunch.

She eventually realized that I fell too far behind, and stopped for a few seconds to allow me to catch up, before running off again.

We kept the game going until she finally reached her destination. She grabbed my hand in hers, and together, we walked through the brick wall illusion that led to the secret garden.

When we emerged on the other side, she looked like she was in heaven. A bright light shone on me, and when I opened my eyes again, I was standing in front of a beautiful red and white dragon Pokémon.

'She's just as beautiful, if not more beautiful as a Pokémon', I thought to myself.

I walked around the small pond in the garden and saw the swing that I was in the first time I saw Latias as a Pokémon. I can remember every detail of that moment, and will always remember it.

I walked over and pushed off the snow that had piled up on it, but I suddenly felt a light push, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the swing, with Latias standing on it right behind me, lightly swinging.

I wished it would never end, that me and Latias could just sway there forever with each other, but it had to end, as I felt her silently leave the swing and fly away.

I hadn't seen her fly away, but I knew where she was going. I decided to give her a few minutes alone while she stood over the Soul Dew and talked to her fallen brother. She turned towards me, as I was slowly walking up the steps to where she hovered.

"Hey Latias, would you mind if I had a minute to speak with Latios alone?" I asked. She nodded her head and began to fly away, probably to go visit Lorenzo.

I turned to the Soul Dew and started talking with Latios.

"Hey Latios, I know you're listening right now, so I've got a few things I'd like to say. Ever since you died and Latias left with me on my journey, I can't help but feeling that I'm the reason you died and the reason Latias has no more family. I was stupid and didn't realize that Team Rocket would follow me to the secret garden.

At this, the Soul Dew glowed a little less, as if saying 'It's not your fault.'

Second, I've been taking good care of your sister ever since. We've become best friends...

The Soul Dew glowed brighter on one side as if saying "You're not telling me the full story."

I sighed. "Ok. The truth is that I love your sister. In fact, we both love each other very much. I promise you that I would never do anything to hurt her. What I'm trying to ask is...

Latias was busy talking with Lorenzo when she noticed me walking towards them with the widest grin she had ever seen plastered on my face. She was clearly curious; she had barely ever seen me like this before!"

"Hey Latias, I just talked to Bianca, and she said she's really anxious to see you again! You might want to go speak to her, unless you'd rather be hunted down by your best friend?" At this she took off at very high speeds to go talk to her best friend.

I turned to Lorenzo and began telling him my plan. After I had finished explaining it to him, he looked very happy about it.

"So Ash, where is it?" He asked anxiously.

I reached in my pocket and pulled out a…

Today was the day. The day that would change both of their lives forever. The much anticipated day of Christmas. I was absolutely paralyzed with emotion right now. I was nervous, excited, and extremely happy.

I told Latias not to rush, and we both took our time getting ready to go out. I took a shower, put some nice clothes on, put my signature cap on, and slowly walked out the door. Lorenzo was in the living room, drinking some coffee and reading the newspaper when I walked in.

"Well hello, Ash. I see that you're pretty nervous." He said in an encouraging manor.

"Today's the day, Lorenzo. It's going to happen today." I replied quietly, as to not be heard if I had any unexpected visitors walk in at any moment.

To my amazement, my guess had not been far off. A few seconds after I said that, Latias walked in the door, having taken her human form as to not draw any attention to ourselves by the public today.

"Well, Latias, today is your day, so where do you want to eat breakfast?" I asked her cheerfully.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the house, me barely grabbing my coat off of the coat hanger before I was pulled out. She slowed down as we walked hand in hand, until we had reached a small outdoor café, where I ordered for the both of us,

When we finished, I left a huge tip for the chef and another for the waiter, and we both walked out the door. We went back to the secret garden, and I thought it was the perfect time to let her unwrap the first present I got her. I pulled out the brightly-colored-wrapping-paper covered box, and her eyes lit up.

The second the box touched her claws, since she had reverted to her Pokémon form, the wrapping paper was torn off in world-record time. I couldn't even blink faster than that!

She slowly opened the box, and...

I found a beautiful ruby necklace inside! It was so brightly lit, and the ruby was heart shaped. The thing that caught my eye, however, was the two things attached to it. On the left side, there was a sapphire and diamond Latios, and on the other side, there was a ruby and diamond Latias. I felt tears well up in my eyes, and I crushed Ash in a giant bear hug!

It took me a few moments to catch my breath.

"Well, I take it that you like it a lot!" I said. Latias nodded her head vigorously and gave me a kiss!

"Well you'll have to wait until tonight to get your other one." I said.

She then showed me a small box that was somewhat wrapped. It must've taken a lot. Of hard work, and I felt really touched that she would do so much for me!

I unwrapped the box, and opened it, and inside, I found a beautiful colored glass picture of me and Latias on the little swing for the first time. It was made with such precision; it looked like I was in one of Latios' visions when he Sight Shared with me! The details were perfect, and I loved it so much. She must've worked on this forever!

It was my turn now. I grabbed her and gave her a hug and kiss, and we stayed like that for what seemed like forever, though I didn't care, it felt like time and space melted around us, and it was just us.

When we broke apart, we both had tears in our eyes because of what the other had done.

"Hey Latias? How would you like to go for a stroll with me through our beautiful city?" I asked. To this, she replied enthusiastically by nodding her head excitedly.

So we both began our leisurely stroll out of the garden and back into the beautiful streets of Altomare. Latias reverted to her Pokémon form. We felt it was safe because not many people were out this late. We just walked around, taking in the sights and smells of Christmas in Altomare, a truly beautiful thing to see. I didn't care which path I took, as long as I got to the one place I had been looking for all along.

After a large amount of time, I finally found what I was looking for- the water fountain where we first met all those years ago. I directed our stroll in that direction, and said we should take a rest.

'Time to unveil the surprise and change both of our lives forever.' I thought.

"Latias, there's something I've been meaning to tell you." I began. She looked at me curiously.

"Ever since I saw you for the first time, All those years ago, I knew deep down that you were the one thing I need in life. Ever since then, there's been a bond between us, a bond even stronger than any other I have ever had. I will follow you to the end of the world and to the end of time and space if it meant that I could love you. I would do anything for you. No matter the task, no matter the difficulty, no matter the risk, I will do anything in my power to love you.

"Now Latias, I should've done this a long time ago.

I slowly got down on one knee, while pulling out a small box from my pocket.

"Latias, I want nothing more than to live with you, to cherish you, to help you, to be by your side in times of need, to admire you, to and most of all- to love you. I will always be here for you. You are the Perfect Gift." I said, nearly breaking into tears myself. I slowly opened the box, and inside was a beautiful ring of gold and precious jewels. The ring was exquisitely crafted with and imprint of Latias and Latios on the ring itself, and a beautiful sapphire sat in the middle, cut to reflect the light in such a way that it formed a perfect replica of the Soul Dew in the Secret Garden.

At that, I couldn't hold it any longer. I began to cry myself, breaking down into sobs myself. This was truly the perfect moment. A bond had been created, one inseparable, even after death. One that would survive the harshness of time and reality, one that would always stay strong.

And at that moment, I understood why the Legendary Ho-Oh had appeared to me at the very beginning of my journey. She hadn't blessed me on my dream of becoming a Pokémon master. She had blessed bless me in discovering the greatest journey the world has to offer-finding one's true love.

I silently thanked Ho-Oh with all my willpower, and far away, I knew Ho-Oh was watching over us, and would always watch over us for the rest of our lives. I could feel her encouragement surging throughout me, giving me the courage to speak my next few words, which I poured all of my heart and soul into.

"Latias, will you marry me?"

Thank you to everyone who has this story. I hope that you will all find someone in your life that is your true love. Please go find someone you know that has made an impact on your life and take the time to thank them for helping you on your journey in life. Please take these next words seriously- do not give up in finding your true love. Whatever the cost may be, when you find that special someone, you will realize it was worth it.

Special thanks goes out to jedimasterpest, who generously allowed me to use the idea for this story, which was his original idea, I just improved upon it. He was my inspiration to begin writing again, and I thank him so much for all of his support throughout the making of this FanFiction.

Now I have another request of all of my readers. As an author, I need to know what I need to improve on to better my own writing skills. So please, review my story, to tell me what I need to fix. I appreciate constructive criticism, but not hateful comments. If I receive any hateful comments, I will politely delete them. I will reply to any comments I do get though.

If anyone wants to try and flame me for not putting a disclaimer, don't bother. I really don't understand the need for one. I mean, come on people, the website's name is Fanfiction. So obviously, I'm not the creator of anything.

If anyone has any requests for stories, just Pm me, and I will try my hardest to get back to you. It should be easier in the next two weeks because of Winter Break starting, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to write your story any time really soon. I really, honestly don't know.

Goodbye for now readers!

Signed,

SuperRedbaron221


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